A Sound Bid
Gamasutra
January 8, 1999
Vol. 3: Issue 1
| A SOUND BID |
Introduction
Questions to Ask Before Bidding
Advice for Game Developers Seeking Audio Help
How An Audio Quote Is Calculated
Contract Payment Options |
1. What platform is the project intended for?
- Game platforms each have their own idiosyncrasies and ways they manage sound. Different equipment may be needed to produce such sounds. The artist may have to rent equipment or hire a subcontractor because of his lack of expertise in a certain area and this all factors into the projected costs. If a sound creator cannot develop for that platform, find out up front or be ready to hire additional help to convert formats.
- Composers and sound artists normally charge less for working the entire project than for creating individual music tracks and sounds separately. It makes sense that once the factory is tooled and the "sound palette" is chosen, creating music and effects in the same vein take less setup and production time. There are those times when only a musical piece or a sound effect or two is needed and we have pricing structures for those also. Let us know.
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Obviously, the more music needed, the more it will cost. A song's length also determines the fee. Because composers normally charge per "finished minute", it only makes sense that a three-minute song would cost more than a one-minute one. To plan production time, composers use their working model to determine the required time. A typical example is four hours to compose from scratch, record tracks and mix down each 30 seconds of music.
Composing and recording several different styles could change the price too. Some composers are capable of many different styles, some only great at one. If you have in mind music of the same genre, have no fear. But if country, jazz, rock and classical are needed for the same project, it may cost a little more. Calling in other musicians to lend their talents costs money and may be written into the bid.
Let the contractor know what format the audio should be delivered in, such as Digital Audio Tape (DAT), CD, cassette tape, and so on. This is necessary to ensure that the composer has the required equipment or would need to rent. For digital files, communicate your desired sample rate in kHz, whether you want 16- or 8-bit audio, and whether the audio should be in stereo or mono.
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If you call upon a sound artist for music and also need sound effects for the project, mention it at the outset, it's probable they are equipped to handle sound effects too. The equipment used in the recording studio and methods used to record sounds are the same for both specialties, the minor difference being the software each use. Asking one contractor to handle both tasks is less expensive in the long run than hiring two, plus it's one less person you have to regularly meet with.
Provide as many details about the sound effects as possible beforehand. It can help the sound creation process considerably. It shows that you, the client, has looked at your audio needs and that you have thoroughly assessed your project requirements. Although the precise sounds may not yet be planned, your ideas about game weapons, the game environment, administrative functions, and so on can be communicated to the sound artist. With this information the sound artist and/or composer can calculate how long their production cycle will be. A general rule-of-thumb is one sound effect requires two hours of creation time.
More sounds will increase a client's cost, of course, but the complexity of the audio can also affect the price. Recognizable sounds found in nature or from man-made sources are relatively easy to create, and many can be found in existing effects libraries. However, even stock audio sounds may need to be manipulated to match up to a character movement or an action, and these sounds often need to have their volume, equalization or length altered. But generally, these sounds are considered elementary.
The sounds that are the most valued are the original, Star Wars-quality, creations. The demand for completely original, highly creative effects is high, and it may therefore cost you more. Finding the right person with the patience, know-how and shared vision may take a little digging to find, but I have yet to meet a sound artist who won't at least give a project like this a shot. We sound artists do, after all, crave a good challenge.
Don't forget to tell your sound designer or composer about the playback device. A while back a company approached me to do some sound effects, and I received a list of effects and format to save them in - pretty straightforward. I proceeded to create some really boffo sounds, smitten with myself that I had pulled off some impossible feat. As it turned out, these sounds would never see a speaker system: they were intended to be burned onto a chip for playback on a T-shirt. So now, as you can imagine, I always ask what the playback device will be. That way I can design sounds specifically for the audio characteristics of the device.
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Narratives fit into the sound recording category. Generally, anyone capable of music recording can also record narration. As with sound effects and music, packaging this task together will normally cost a client less while reducing the number of contractors a client has to deal with. If you already have narratives recorded, the sound artist can usually provide the service of transferring to digital files, maximizing the sound, cutting them to length and adding any additional background or Foley sounds.
If narratives are to be recorded, the contractor will need to know if he will have to provide the voice talent, and to budget accordingly. Many sound artists have access to local talent or use talent agencies to find just the right personality. Auditions are usually free, paying only when the talent has performed the work, which averages between $200-$300 for a day of reading. This is well worth the price for professional voice talent. As a client, a good question to ask your prospective sound creator is if he or she has any experience directing narrative sessions. After dealing with musicians, though, we sound artists are fairly adept at coaxing great performances from practically anyone.
Granting the authority to a sound artist to rewrite a script is a big plus, and it can also be a money saver when the clock is ticking. If this is made clear to a prospective sound artist in the beginning, it will likely reduce the 'fudge factor' that's normally calculated into a bid. I once had voice talent who could not say, "...live to tell their tales". No matter how many times we tried, this tongue twister never came close to resembling English. A quick rewrite got us back on track instantly. Had we been required to track down the producer for permission, it may have taken longer, or worse, the talent may have had to return later, resulting in another day of recording and voice talent fees.
- If you need it tomorrow, it will cost more. If you need a half-hour of music in a week, it will cost more. The more projects the sound designer or composer has to put on hold and the more sleep deprived the project makes him or her, the more it will cost. But, if the sound artist has sufficient lead time on the project and can schedule around other commitments, standard rates will apply. Rush jobs in any industry can be costly.
- The beauty of the Internet is its ability to immediately distribute digital data. Attaching a sound file to e-mail is the method of choice, and it's typically the cheapest. The costs begin to rise as the delivery method changes. If a client requires shipment on removable media (such as floppy discs or CDs), there will be a cost. A DAT master is slightly more. If a client has to have the original two-inch, 24-track tape reel you used to record with, the price jumps up again. Internet, floppy disks and CDs are common, DAT's only slightly less so. Forget about those big, bulky tape reels.
- It's typical for an established game development company to draw upon many of its musical/sound design resources at once, have them create specific music/sounds for a project according to their guidelines, and then choose the best one. While this is great from the developer's standpoint, it can be a waste of time for the sound creator. Few sound artists would spend a week or two sweating over a speculative demo, investing their time and money, only to find out their work was rejected. Some sound artists compensate for this by charging a token fee to cover the very basic production costs for the speculative project. It is a fair business practice to pay the artist for his or her costs, which are then usually deducted from the full fee after they are hired. Letting the sound artist know ahead of time you require a speculative demo will save a lot of frustration for everyone. But usually a sound artist's suitability can easily be determined from a previously submitted demo reel.
- The production budget can be a touchy subject. If you have numbers in mind for the sound budget, give the musician or sound designer a ballpark estimate. There's no need to divulge privileged information - just give a rough idea. This will tell the sound artist what budget he or she will be expected to stay within and the scope and seriousness of the project. Knowing this will also help the sound creator offer solutions based on the budget and can make payment options more flexible (e.g., payment up front, payment at milestones, a royalty payment structure, and even barter agreements). We sound designers and composers are part of the development team and do not want to doom a project before it even has a chance. Flexible payment options are common with sound professionals.
- This question is very reasonable if the possibility of royalty payments surfaces during negotiations. A game which will be self-published by a new, inexperienced developer and distributed by word of mouth does not exactly scream success. On the other hand, a well-established veteran development team backed by a giant publishing company has a better chance. Everything is negotiable and it pays to have all the facts in the beginning to help make the decision.
- If a game developer already has a standard method of payment established, tell the sound artist about it. Ask if it is acceptable. The most typical method of paying for audio services is with cash, in which some is paid up front, some after acceptance of the first pass and the rest upon final approval. If there are other methods, such as royalties on the backside, a salary or hourly wage, be sure to mention them too. Sometimes a sound artist will shoulder some of the risk. He or she may be willing to gamble in order to help keep your production costs down on the front side for a much larger piece of the pie on the backside. Ask the client if he or she is willing to share.
- Who do the game developer expect to buy the game? A classically trained pianist may not have the ability to write music for a game targeted to the teenage male. A heavy metal guitarist may not be exactly right for the 3-to-8 year-old female market. As composers, it is our responsibility to let clients know if we can handle the scope of the job. Make sure that the target market is well understood by all.
